Closing the Data Collection Circle Stephen Osiecki GIS Manager VHB, Inc. Orlando, FL
Traditional Data Collection Method Bulky Land use maps Photographs Draw features on paper maps Collect attribute information in field notebook Digitize features and data entry in the office Numerous QA/QC iterations Setup Data Collection Digitize Analyze Report Map
Re-Engineered Data Collection Method Streamlined All data is stored electronically in a common format used for collection, analysis and report Digitize features and data entry while in the field minimizing transcription errors Minimizes time from data collection to analysis and reporting Data Collection Map Report Analyze
Project Objectives Develop an ArcPad application for Vegetation Monitoring The Application must be relevant to various regions in the U.S. Encourage the use of technology in data collection to leverage decision making
Project Requirements Collect Vegetation Areas Grid Tool Many-to-One relationships Quick sort through large list of species Add new species to list Large Forms with large font Large Buttons on the Toolbar
Project Requirements, Cont. Calculations on the Fly: Total % Cover Relative % Cover for a species Wetland Affinity Score
Project Tasks Client Interactions Functional Specification Design Implementation In-Field Use
Client Interactions Client must understand technology Benefits Apply to methodologies Developers must understand the kind of data to be collected Developers must understand the complex feature-attribute relationships
Functional Specification Outlined every detail of the application Used ArcPad Application Builder & Excel to create mock-up diagrams and organize requirements Required client approval before application development began Attribute Method Comments Required? Lookup Table Default Value Validation PAGE 1 VEGETATION Species Textbox User clicks? button to select Species from list. Once Species is selected from Species Form the value is populated in this textbox. Yes None Validation to ensure this textbox is not blank Percent Cover Slider / Textbox These two controls are linked so the user can type in a Percent Cover value or move the slider to the appropriate value and the other control will be set appropriately. No None Activities Multi-Select Listbox The user will be allowed to select as many types of activities associated with the particular species and also be allowed to add new activities to the list. No Vegetation Species Activities None
Implementation Large Toolbar Buttons GRID Tool
Many-to-one relationship Implementation Click to pick the species Assign Area Attributes Add Species Select Species Attributes Find Species On-the-fly calculations Build list of Species associated with this Vegetation Area (Many-to-one relationship) Narrow down list
Report Related Document Map Species Name & Activity
Reporting, Analysis & Mapping Generated all Reports in Microsoft Access Mapping and Analysis performed in ArcMap VHB Toolbar for ArcGIS Display data Identify features Create maps with templates
Conclusion Well received by the VHB Environmental Scientists Functional Specification was an invaluable resource Has already been used in multiple states Significantly reduced overall length of data collection projects especially in analysis and reporting Improving the quality of the product delivered
Testimonial You ve eliminated a lot of materials or bulk you would need, and sped up the process by not having to go back and forth from the field to collect and analyze the data. Warren Reuschel, VHB Environmental Scientist Map Data Collection Report Analyze